The present invention relates generally to semiconductor technology. Specifically, embodiments of the invention are directed to semiconductor device structures and a method of manufacturing the same.
As the feature size of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) continues to decrease, short channel effects have become a critical design issue due to the reduction in the size of the gate length. Fin Field-effect transistor (FinFET) devices exhibit excellent gate controllability on channel charge, superior electrostatic control capability, higher drive current and lower power consumption, so that the feature size of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices can be further reduced to increase the integration density in accordance with Moore's Law.
However, strong electric fields in the proximity of the top corners of the fin may adversely affect gate dielectric integrity, time-dependent dielectric breakdown, negative bias temperature instability and positive bias temperature instability of a FinFET device. Thus, the strength of electric fields at the top corners of the fin may impact the reliability and performance of a FinFET device.
Currently, rounding the corners of the fin is the main technique to improve the reliability of a FinFET device. This technique appears to be effective for core FinFET devices, however, it is less effective for input/output (I/O) FinFET devices.
The present inventor has discovered that, in the conventional method of forming a FinFET device, the filler material disposed between the fins may be removed by etching, causing impurities to migrate into the channel region, thereby reducing the FinFET performance.
Thus, there is a need to provide a novel fin-type semiconductor device and manufacturing method thereof to overcome the above-described problems.